Babysitters

What is a babysitter?

A babysitter provides supervisory/custodial care of children typicallly on a part-time or an as-needed basis. No special training or background is required; however, the babysitter should possess the ability to respond to a crisis situation, communicate effectively with parents and have basic first aid skills.

Babysitter Tax & National Insurance

A babysitter will normally be self employed and if their total earnings from all sources exceed the personal allowance (2010/11 - £6,475) then they will be required to declare their earnings on a personal tax return and pay any necessary tax.

If the babysitter is contracted on a regular basis (ie for specific times and days each and every week) then they may well be considered to be employed in which case they will need to be subject to PAYE and National Insurance in a similar way to nannies if they earn over £110 per week or their total earnings from all sources exceed the £110 per week.